


What Falls Away

by broken_hearts_always_lie



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other, Secret Island, Survival, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-02-18 04:48:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13092726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_hearts_always_lie/pseuds/broken_hearts_always_lie
Summary: After walking away from Laura’s attempt to get her to go against her sister, Carmilla leaves Silas to clear her head. Only when she’s an ocean away from Silas does she learn that the students and staff previously infected by the Alchemy Club’s spores have evolved into actual flesh-eating Zombies. In her defense, the Anglerfish was pretty damn distracting and it wasn’t like it was her job to deal with all of the shit on campus.Putting life-threatening symptoms, pasts, and every instinct of their species aside in order to survive in the long-term might turn out to be futile.





	1. A Lonely Quest For Redemption

“Just because I was willing to risk my life to save yours doesn’t mean I’m willing to betray my sister.” Carmilla can’t bare looking at her, so she does the next best thing and walks towards the window to watch as Mattie leaves the apartment, “It doesn’t make me some crusader.”

“Carm.. why are you doing this? I need you to help.”

Perhaps that was where she went wrong. So far she’s rarely told Laura no.. “I’m doing this because I’d like to think you could love me instead of some romantic ideal you’ve made up in your head!”

“Romantic ideal?”

As if the look of surprised confusion wasn’t painful enough.. Mattie is her sister! Does this generation understand nothing about loyalty?

“–Because I think you’re better than your long history of murdering and callously discarding people?”

Her undead heart nearly clenches as she looks up to Laura from her current spot on the desk chair, “Is that what you think of me?”

“No! I— _Ugh_!” Laura rakes her hands through her hair, pulling on it slightly to try and focus on the conversation rather than the painful adrenaline pumping through her veins, “I didn’t mean it like that, I just..” Sitting down next to Carmilla, Laura sighs in exasperation, “What am I supposed to think when you’re all ‘Caring about people who aren’t us is stupid, poptart!’ and, ugh–'Remember that time we ate half of Saigon?  _Fun times!_ '”

“That’s part of who I am, Laura, and so is Mattie… You can’t expect all of that to just evaporate because I love you.” And it kills her.. It kills her how she can’t be what both Mattie and Laura want from her.

Laura pauses for a moment, seeming to actually process what Carmilla is saying for once even though it goes against what she wants to hear.

The look on Laura’s face when she finally says it makes her think that maybe there’s hope for them after all.

Maybe she can understand Carmilla’s nature, if not just once..

“If you really loved me then you’d stay. I need you to be the kind of person who helps and.. fights.”

Nope. Of course not.

“You haven’t listened to a single word I’ve said..” Rising from the chair she’s in after a moment to think it through, she heads for the door, “I’m done.”

“Carm! Please, Carm!”

If she can’t please either of them, then there’s no point in torturing herself over it.

She needs time to think.. She needs to go somewhere where she can think.

Somewhere away from all of this.

* * *

Carmilla sighs and knocks on LaF and Perry’s door, waiting for a grunt of acknowledgement before she pokes her head in, “Is J.P. here?”

“Uhm.. Carmilla, you do realize it’s four in the morning, right?”

“I will be right there, Miss Karnstein.” J.P. speaks up before she has the chance to snark back at LaF. Waiting to make sure he’s actually coming, she heads a good distance away from the door to keep the ginger twins from snooping easily should they decide leaving bed is worth the conversation.

Which they will.

“What is the matter?” Will—no,  _J.P._ looks earnestly concerned. His hair is scruffed up from attempting sleep, and Carmilla can’t help but think he might not be getting enough blood from the very faint redness around his eyes.

“You asked about joining me on my..  _quest_.” Carmilla tries not to visibly cringe over the word, “In all of your years down in that library.. did you ever learn how to fly a jet?”

“I would have to familiarize myself with the controls but yes, I believe I could fly one quite confidently. I was quite enamored with the idea of being able to fly.”

“You’d probably be stuck flying for more a about twenty hours, and we’d need to stop to refuel.. Would you be willing to take me somewhere?”

“I can be ready in as little as half an hour if you need to leave now.”

* * *

Carm sighs and shoulders her bag as she gets off of the jet in a remote airport outside of San Francisco. She doesn’t plan on staying long.. only long enough to seek advice from 'Xandra and visit with John, Josephine, Kathrine, and Tessa.

Getting a cab was easy enough, despite J.P.’s obsession with taking in everything he could while at the airport.

Finding the blonde’s old home, even easier.

By the time she’s made it up to the front door, J.P. has made several comments about the garden in front of the house. Carmilla’s eyes nearly roll out of her head as she reaches into a pot, taking a key out and wiping it off before unlocking the front door and bringing him in.

“Oh, how pleasant!”

Carm fights the urge to roll her eyes as she puts her bag down on top of a waiting chair before meandering over to the kitchen, “Are you hungry, Will?” She doesn’t really have to ask, knowing how old he is.. Opening up the old refrigerator, she pulls out a half-empty blood bag and pours the contents into a mug before putting in the microwave.

“Is this your home off campus?”

“Sort of.” Carmilla offers him a genuine smile, she wouldn’t ever admit it anywhere near the ginger trifecta, but this version of her brother is surprisingly..  _tolerable_. Taking the mug out of the microwave before it can complain at her, she hands it over to him and takes her hair down from the messy ponytail she had it in, “Close friends of mine live here. I usually stay with them in the fall and spring.”

“It’s a lovely home!”

“You should tell Tessa that when you see her.” Carm nods to the cup of blood before heading to the back door, “Wait here for a few minutes before going to explore. I need to see if someone is home.”

“Oh, of course.. Oh my, is that a first edition?” J.P stops at the study, quickly side tracked by Tessa’s expansive library

Carmilla fights a small smile and rolls her eyes.  _What the hell_ , at least he’s clearly not as asinine as Will was. Following the sound of laughter that she can barely here, Carmilla walks out into the backyard and smiles at the sight of Josephine running around, tossing leaves in the air and giggling excitedly. Carmilla grins and quietly stalks up to her, intent on surprising her.

“KITTY!” Josephine turns around the second she’s two feet away from her and promptly launches herself at Carmilla’s legs, “Meine minou! Daddy, it’s kitty!”

Carmilla steps back in genuine surprise and laughs, scooping the almost five year-old up into her arms,  “Hey, cupcake.”

Josephine grins and kisses Carmilla’s cheek before hugging her again, “I missed you, Maman.”

Carmilla smiles and kisses Josephine’s cheek back, bouncing her on her hip to better balance her as she walks over to John, Tessa, and Katherine, “Moi aussi, Josie. Do you know where 'Xandra is?”

“Mummy went to work to finish writing her last song before the big trip!”

“Oh, I see. Shall we go surprise her?”

“She’ll be back soon.” John speaks up, offering her a small smile, “Good morning, Carmilla.”

“Mornin’, Johnny boy.” Carmilla offers him a small smile, quickly taking in his appearance for Josie’s sake. He’s getting older.. part of her can’t decide who to pity more, Tessa because she will one day lose her husband or Jonathon because he will never have the chance to grow old with Tessa.

.. Luckily he doesn’t quite look a day over thirty-five.. yet.

The Japanese really do age well..

“Carmilla?” Tessa smiles up at her, currently lounging half on top of her twin on a hammock, “What are you doing here? I thought you were finishing the school-year at Silas for your friend.”

“Classes haven’t really started yet and I needed to talk to 'Xandra.”

Katherine opens one eye at the mention of her girlfriend. Sitting up long enough to take her in before laying back down, in order to maintain her general facade of hating her, “You could have called.”

“I needed to talk with her face-to-face and cool off somewhere away from Silas.” Carmilla shrugs dismissively, setting Josie down when she starts to get restless, “Speaking of, I didn’t come alone.”

“Oh! Did you bring your room mate?”

“No, it turns out William had a twin brother. He goes by J.P… And he hasn’t been  _awake_  for very long, so he’s still catching up with the century.” Lying to them wasn’t her first plan, but for both Katherine and Josephine’s sake, it will work until she can talk to them without Josie listening in.

“Oh! Another young vamp, how  _fantastic_.” Katherine snarks, lisp finally spilling through from the damage Carmilla’s mother inflicted.

“Easy, Kat. You’re not older than he is, whether he’s been forced to sleep or not.” Jonathon finally speaks up, setting the newspaper down on the table. Standing up, he offers a lop-sided smile towards Tessa, “Well, since we have a guest, I see no reason we can’t finally get around to brunch.”

* * *

Carmilla nurses a bottle of whine, watching with a faint smile as Tessa carries Josie up to her bedroom for the night.

J.P. has been taking advantage of Tessa and Xandra’s wide variety of books, and is currently nose deep in an old translation of the Poetic Edda when John finally walks over to her, having finished cleaning up from dinner.

“She should be home by now. Even if she decided to go to a party or something, she’s never out for this long anymore.”

Carmilla feels too safe for the first time in months to wind herself up again, but she doesn’t take his words with a grain of salt, “Do you want to go look for her?”

“I think we should.. let me just check the traffic.”

Carm nods, continuing to sip away on Xandra’s expensive wine from dinner before finishing the glass, getting up to find some Whiskey (which, if she remembers correctly, should be hidden somewhere upstairs.

“Carmilla..”

Glancing over at John, she slows and turns into the kitchen, glancing down at his notebook before cursing under her breath.

She’s seen this before.

_Fucking Silas._

“God dammit..” Carmilla groans, “I think I know what this is.”

“Cannibalism with a delicious dash of rabies?”

“Remember when I called you last semester about the gnarly mushrooms the alchemy club released?”

“And the souped up zombies-but-not-zombies that nearly killed your girlfriend?”

“That’s the one. It’s possible they may have gone under the radar after we severed the lure on the anglerfish..”

“Dammit, Carm..”

“Hey, it’s not my job to take care of everything on campus! If so, I at least want to get paid.”

“Is something the matter, Miss Karnstein?” J.P. walks into the kitchen at the sound of raised voices.

Carmilla closes her eyes in irritation towards John momentarily before pushing the computer gently over towards J.P.’s view, “Does that jerking look familiar?”

“It reminds me of the students and staff that were infected by the spores.. but I could’ve sworn LaFontaine informed me that they didn’t try to eat people.”

“Could they have evolved?” Carmilla turns her attention completely to the ex-resident librarian, “It’s possible, right?”

“I will need to do some further research on the subject, but I believe so. I don’t mean to push, Miss Karnstein, but I must make sure the others are safe. Would you mind it too terribly if I contacted LaFontaine?”

“No.. no, you should definitely make sure they’re safe. Jonathon and I need to go get 'Xandra.. Do you think you could watch Josephine for me?”

“What’s going on?” Tessa speaks just above a whisper as she walks down the stairs from Josie’s room.

“Zombies, apparently.” John walks over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, “We’re going to go find 'Xandra.. and you should stay.”

“Last time you did that,” With her hands on his chest, Carmilla quickly glances away, “you were missing for a week and almost sacrificed to a soul sucking demigod.”

“And I survived.” John encourages, rubbing her arm gently, “Katherine and Carmilla will be with me. Not to jinx anything, but I couldn’t be with anybody more likely to save me.”

“No-we still don’t know how this thing spreads, you should probably stay behind.”

Carmilla doesn’t want to admit it, but the wench is right. Looking up at Katherine, she can’t help but wonder when Katherine joined the conversation. “John works in the same building as 'Xandra.. Our chances are better with him there.” And Carmilla can’t be sure Katherine wouldn’t choose to push her infront of a pack of Zombies for revenge.

“Fine.” Tessa pulls away from John, sighing softly, “Can you at least promise me you’ll try to skip heroics? ”

“With you waiting for me..” John does a mock salute, and for a moment Carmilla remembers the bookish little twerp whose determination almost got them all killed. The corner of her mouth tucks up in a small smile..  _who’d have thought he’d_ actually  _keep them all alive_.

_Just like Laura.._

“As much as this puke-fest could give us all cavities, we should probably wrap this up before San Francisco becomes a rejected set for  _Dawn of the Dead_.”

“Did you just–” Tessa looks over at Carmilla before she shakes her head quickly and rolls her eyes, “Okay, okay..” Sighing softly, she smiles up at John and kisses his cheek lovingly, “You better come back, or I’ll haunt you until you turn 92.”

* * *

J.P.’s fear for Carmilla’s safety was genuine, but seeing LaF in the tunnels that led to the library helped calm him down significantly. LaFontaine is ever the embodiment of reason and despite the insane chaos that had erupted on chaos they were still being logical and reasonable.

“-Miss. Karnstein went to find her friend, but she should be back in half an hour, according to her messages. She wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t ask; how are Miss Hollis and Miss Belmonde?”

“Oh, Laura and Mattie have been driving each other to the brink of insanity. Mattie refuses to let Laura out of her sight even though Laura and Carmilla broke up.. I’m pretty sure if they’re left in a room together only one of them will walk out. Are you okay, J.P.? Where are you?”

“I’m with Carmilla’s friends at their house in San Francisco. Did you know Carmilla is good with children?”

“I—wow, okay.. I didn’t even know she had friends outside of Laura.” LaF blinks rapidly for a moment as they take in the information, “Okay, that information aside, do you guys have a safe way out?”

“Oh, yes. Miss Karnstein is planning on using the jet we used to get here. She said it shouldn’t be touched for at least a good eight hours, and it’s only a half-hours drive. She’s going to be coming back with enough fuel to make it to an Island that her mother owned.”

“Mattie mentioned an Island, too. She’s taking all of the students that haven’t fled or haven’t been turned there.. do you think it’s the same one?”

“Quite possibly. It wouldn’t hurt to hope the odds are in our favor in that department. I’m not going to pretend to be sure, but it seems as if Miss Karnstein-” J.P. looks to the door suddenly, startled by a loud thump against it, “-perhaps we should continue this conversation on another outlet?”

“Agreed. There are going to be a ton of students coming down here, anyways. Text me when you can?”

“Of course. Be careful, LaFontaine.”

“You, too, 'J.”


	2. Broken Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xandra is found and they all make it to the airport safely, picking up a few Silas Alumni in the process. Carmilla and Laura talk.. briefly. The group runs into trouble on their way to the Island. Carmilla feeds on Xandra and Mattie bares a warning to J.P and Xandra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but I thought it'd be best to update more often and in short segments.

Carmilla watches with nervous anticipation as they pull up to the back of the studio.

The streets were in absolute chaos.

They spend a few minutes in silence as they wait to make sure the coast was clear. Katherine stays near the door to keep watch of the surrounding area and the car, ready to sound an alarm should trouble come.

The studio is freakishly quiet, and Carmilla can't help but muse over the hopeful idea that it could be safe.. Granted she'd be more convinced if she could hear Xandra's ghostly voice drifting through the halls.

John checks every corner, more concerned than she is due to not being able to hear twice as well.

It's only when she reaches the second to last corner that she holds him back from checking, hearing the faint clicking of heals followed with a door shutting quietly.

Carmilla glances behind them before glancing down the hall that leads to Xandra's.. studio. Nodding towards John, she quickly walks down the hall, only slightly relieved to find most doors shut and barricaded.

“You're a stranger~” Xandra's voice filters through the walls, despite the expensive equipment put in place to block it out. It sends a familiar chill down Carmilla's spine before she even begins to play on the stratocaster, "I know that's dangerous, but I'm amused by you.."

Carmilla has to wonder whether her hold over her will ever be relinquished.

Better to find out later than to find out now by walking away. Walking over to the door she tests the door once before pushing all of her weight against it and forcing the chair underneath it to break as the door swings open and slams against the wall.

Xandra looks up from her guitar, silver eyes widening in fear before smiling in recognition, "Marcilla?"

"Xandra." Carmilla offers her a faint smile, before nodding to the case she stores her guitar in, "Lets get going, shall we?"

* * *

“I can't believe you guys have a fucking minivan..” Carmilla murmurs as she watches them pull up to an apartment. The closer they got to their house, the less chaos was ensuing.

Granted there was many people still out on the street.

The destruction, looting and violence nearly made the more vampiric side of Carmilla _purr_.

“Wait, I know this place..” Carmilla watches the apartment, worrying her lip between her teeth before she spots Aaron and Anya run out of the main door, “Oh, great.. we're getting everyone together again, aren't we?”

Xandra rolls her eyes and scoots over into the middle seat, “We can't just leave them.”

"Yes, we can..” Carmilla grumbles, doing her best to help make enough space for the four of them in the back.

Xandra reaches out and squeezes her hand discreetly before the door opens.

“Hey, guys. Thanks..” Aaron climbs in, tossing their bags into the back.

Carmilla offers him a ghost of a smile, “ _Dude_.”

Aaron looks up at her and smirks before helping Anya in.

“Whoa..” Eyebrows shooting up, she nearly smushes herself into the door to make room, “Anya?”

“We couldn't leave you.” Xandra offers her a small smile, “How are they?”

“Kicking.” Anya grumbles as Aaron gets in and shuts the door before they draw too much attention to the car. Rubbing her belly gently, she sides up to Aaron as he wraps his arm around her shoulder, “I feel like I can hardly walk these days.”

“When are you due?”

“Three weeks.” Anya looks out the back window as they pull away just in time to avoid three people, one carrying a bat, “Luckily there are no complications. They're perfectly healthy.”

“I know a few people who can help with the delivery if we can't find a real doctor.” Carm takes out her phone when it vibrates against her hip and furrows her brows, “Shit..”

“Is that her?” Xandra peeks over, catching a picture of Laura fast asleep, sprawled out on a large bed with a sheet barely hiding a lack of clothing.

“I forgot that I had her on my favorites still.”

“Because 'do not disturb' is a reason to avoid anyone and everyone.” Xandra rolls her eyes, snatching the phone before Carmilla can react and answering it, “Hello?”

“Who's this?”

Carmilla groans and grabs the phone from Xandra, “Ignore her. What do you want, Laura?”

“Are you going to meet up with Mattie?”

“What?” Furrowing her brows, she flinches and curses when John runs an infected person over who's trying to get to a teen.

“That may have been intentional.” John says aloud.

“What's going on?” Laura sounds worried.. _Ugh_.

“Nothing, our driver must've been a European taxi driver in a past life. Where's Mattie?”

“She doesn't know I'm calling, and if you think I'm going with her before finding my Dad-”

Carmilla groans and slumps back in her seat, “Look, going by what you've told me about your father, he'll be just fine. Go with her, she'll keep you safe. Be careful. I have to go, talking could be a distraction and we really can't risk crashing.” Carmilla waits for a mumbled okay before hanging up, skipping any chance of a longer conversation.

* * *

Tessa sighs softly running her finger lightly along her favorite instrument before picking it up and bringing it over to the few bags of everyone's things she's packed.

She'd part with everything except for the Guzheng.

Jonathan gave it to her for their most recent anniversary and it was her pride and joy.

“Miss? Your daughter woke up and was scared, we thought it'd be best to join you.”

“Oh, J.P.” Tessa smiles down at Josephine, “That's fine. Could you help me with these bags? Kat said that it'd be safest for us to meet her at the airport and that you'd know the way.”

“I recall it, yes, and I wouldn't mind helping you with the bags.”

“..Thanks.”

_He's an odd one._

* * *

Carmilla gets out of the car the second it stops, ignoring Tessa and Xandra's protest as she runs towards where their jet is taking off, cursing loudly.

“Mar! What the hell!?” Slamming the car door, Xandra catches up with her. Grabbing her arm, she pulls her to face her, “Have you lost your mind?!”

“That's our fucking plane!” Carmilla shouts, pointing towards it as it leaves the ground.

“Quoi?” Xandra stops in her tracks, stepping closer to Carmilla, “No. No, you said--”

“Someone must have fucking killed Gabriel.”

“Who is Gabriel?” Anya murmurs as she walks catches up to the duo with the others behind her.

Carmilla murmurs something under her breath that Xandra can only assume translates close to 'we're so fucked' before turning around away from the ground, hands raising to rub her temples. Letting go off her, Xandra takes a step away, giving her space, “One of her mother's minions. It doesn't matter now, we should go inside and search the area.”

“I have to go find Laura and Mattie.” Carmilla mutters before walking past Xandra towards the car.

Anya reaches out, grabbing onto her and digging her nails (which nearly turn into claws in order to keep Carm from ripping out of her grip), “We need to stay together. We'll be safer out of the city, but our chances of surviving are better if we stick together.”

“I can't just leave them there! What if Laura gets hurt, or..” _God dammit, don't you dare, you stupid idiot._. “What if I never see Mattie again?”

“Mar..”

“You won't be able to see Mattie again unless you can find a way off the freaking continent. Do you know of a way?”

“There has to be another way-”

Anya rolls her eyes and reaches out with her free hand, smacking Carm across the face quickly, “Bitch, if you don't slow down for three minutes you're never going to get anywhere.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Xandra rushes towards them. Carm growls lowly, glancing down at Anya's hand before looking up at her. Pulling Carm away by pinning her arms back before she can react, Xandra widens her gait to help keep her balance in case Carm bolts, “Easy, Mar..”

“Let. Me. Go.”

“Not until I know you don't plan on turning her intestines into a scarf!”

* * *

“How are we going to leave?” Mel and Danny bust through the door to Mattie's temporary office in the tunnels.

Looking up at them, Matska raises one brow, “I do believe through the very door you walked in through. _Go_.”

“See? She's pulling our chain.” Mel points towards her, facing Danny.

“Are you two planning on pulling a coop?” Mattie laughs, rising from her seat and sauntering over, “You're forgetting that I don't need you or your Summers to survive. You two dimwits, however, won't stand a chance in the long term out there. Our Island has some of the most advanced medical and scientific equipment in the world. Not to mention enough land and resources to survive off of without interference from the outside world.. and it's only a door away.”

“Are you talking about the library?” LaF lifts their head, looking up at her curiously.

“Quite possibly, granted the library is only one of many doors.”

* * *

Carmilla shudders, wiping away the blood from her nose on her sleeve as she watches Josie play shoots and ladders with Jonathon and Tessa.

“Mar?” Xandra murmurs softly, sitting down next to her and resting her forearms against her knees much like Carmilla is doing.

“What?” Carmilla can't keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Xandra nudges her knee against Carm's, offering her a tiny reassuring smile before pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to her, “You're starving.”

“Am not.” Carmilla protests half-heartedly, dabbing away the blood.

“You're starving, you're tired, and you're clearly too worried about them to realize it.” Getting up, Xandra offers her a hand, “Come on, we can feed off of each other if it'll help you rest.”

Carmilla looks at the hand petulantly before sighing and grabbing it, accepting the help up, “You're going to need the energy, I can go hunt something to eat.”

“Bull-shit. Who knows what'll happen if they bite a NH.. And we really need to come up with a name for them.” Leading her off into a small storage closet in the office they're camped out in, Xandra turns off the lights to avoid anyone seeing inside. Walking over to the back she sits down on a chair, pulling Carmilla ontop of her, “And this is too nostalgic not to, you know it.”

Carmilla simply nods and rests her forehead against Xandra's, “Remember the safeword still?”

“Mhmm, pretty fucking hard to forget.. Do you?”

Carmilla nods before taking off her top, clumsily helping Xandra with hers despite shaking hands from not feeding for the past day. Taking off the choker around Xandra's neck, she inhales her scent momentarily before sinking her teeth straight into her neck, choosing to ignore the fingers snaking through her hair as she feeds.

They remain like that for what feels like an eternity, Carmilla feeding from one of her favorite sources with Xandra eagerly coaxing her fourth despite not getting as much pleasure out of the ordeal, readying herself for the influx of oxytocin. When Carmilla begins to finally slow, Xandra's hands are eagerly undoing the button to black jeans, standing up and holding Carmilla in her arms before pinning her against the wall, fangs descending once Carmilla is finished.

“Mar..”

Carmilla murmurs an older name in response, stirring familiar memories in Xandra's head from when she wasn't yet immortal.

“Say it again..” Her voice is low and hushed as her hand nearly slithers into Carmilla's pants.

Her work is quick and confident.

They don't have enough time for fooling around.

It's only when Carmilla starts cursing her old name that she bites, drawing out enough blood to sate her before pulling back and inhaling a familiar cloud of lavender and plum and Carmilla's 'spark' into her lungs.

Her life-force doesn't leave her breathless like it had in the past and the amount of oxytocin is significantly lower than she expects, but it will do.

Pulling away, she sets her down and grabs the familiar handkerchief, “You are definitely a kept woman, Miss Karnstein.”

“Do you need more?” Carmilla asks quietly as she picks up her shirt from the floor.

“No.. no, what you gave me will do.”

* * *

J.P. watches as Carmilla emerges from the closet, “Miss Karnstein, are you unwell?”

“Fine..” Carmilla murmurs slowly, grabbing her jacket from the sofa before laying down near him and using it as a pillow, almost immediately falling into a heavy slumber.

He watches as most everyone except Katherine falls asleep over the next half an hour. Taking off his coat, he drapes it over Carmilla's body before scooting closer slightly after a tense five minutes of watching the older twin, Katherine, glaring at her.

* * *

Carmilla sits up in time to hear the door close, “What are you doing up?”

“There were Zombies in the hallway. I couldn't risk them finding Jojo..”

“Was everything okay?”

“No..”

Carmilla gets up, furrowing her brows when she smells the faint copper of blood, “John, tell me you didn't get bit..”

“I didn't..” John pulls back his sleeve, “I was scratched.”

* * *

“Alright,” Mattie gets up from her desk once Danny and Kirsch enter the room, “I need you to take groups of ten out to the dorms, tell them they can pack one suitcase or bag and one extra item. Nothing else.”

“What if we say no?”

“Then they don't get to bring anything. Mel,” Mattie turns her attention to her as soon as she walks in, “Take a group of three or four people and gather up the essentials. Medicine, food, first-aid supplies, toiletries, and any tools you can find. Once the door closes we'll be on our own until someone else opens it or we can venture out.”

“Don't forget the toilet paper.” Kirsch speaks up, “People always forget toilet paper in the movies.. oh! And razors, soap, those burritos from the cafeteria if there are any left..”

“Can it, beefcake.”

* * *

“I don't think it's going to do anything, I feel fine.”

“He could be right.” J.P. offers, “But we'd have no way of knowing yet. Should I see if LaFontaine has made any progress on their research?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you should definitely do that. Immediately.”

J.P. nods, heading towards the closet with his phone in hand, “I shall.”

Carmilla nods before standing up and walking over to the table, “Come on, we should at least clean it up and wrap it.”

Jonathon nods and takes a seat at the table, watching as Carmilla pulls out the first aid kid, taking out rubbing alcohol, “Is this for the time after the Summer Society's hunt?”

Carmilla fights a faint smile, “No, we're just low on hydrogen peroxide.”

John nods and chuckles half-heartedly, “Damn, we could have been even.”

“Not quite yet, Johnny boy, that hurt like a bitch, this'll only sting.” Pouring the alcohol over his forearm, she rolls her eyes as he curses and pulls away, “Don't be such a child.”

“This'll only sting? Bull shit.” Giving his hand back cautiously, he watches as she puts on the triple antibiotic ointment before beginning to wrap it.

“It's more like a gash than a cut.” Carmilla murmurs, “Hopefully it'll be okay.”

“Awe, Marcie, are you worrying about me? How sweet. And here I thought you only liked women.”

Carmilla rolls her eyes and digs her nails into the wrapping harshly, finding a tiny thrill in his hiss of pain, “I told you never to call me that.”

“Noted.” John grits out between his teeth before getting up, taking off his button-up shirt and digging through his small bag of clothes to find another.

* * *

Mattie sinks down onto the couch in her office, eyeing Carmilla's name from her recent calls list.

She finally has time to herself, what with Laura sprawled across a makeshift bed and completely unconscious. She knows she should rest while she can, before anymore of the annoying students of Silas come bursting through her door.

Laying down, she gets comfortable and sighs softly before hitting her name.

The phone trills twice, and is halfway through the third ring before she gets Carmilla's voicemail.

Standing, she glances at Laura for a moment before leaving the room, headed towards the makeshift lab that they've set up.

“--I'm not sure yet. From what I've gathered there's a fifty-fifty chance that he'll turn.. or at least that's how it's been over here. The virus could take effect in a day or a week. If he can survive two weeks without turning then he should be in the clear.”

Knocking against the door frame, she waits until they turn around before clearing her throat, “Are you speaking to J.P.?”

“Y-Yeah. Why? Is that a problem?”

“I don't care who you're talking to so long as it's not one of them.”

“Okay, then why are you..?”

“I need to speak with him. Alone.”

LaF watches her for a minute before standing, “Alright, then. I'm going to see if there's anything left in one of the vending machines..”

“Don't be in a rush.”

“Miss Belmonde?”

Matska waits until LaFontaine leaves to walk up to the small desk, “Where is Carmilla?”

“Resting. She's been quite drained lately.”

 _God dammit._.

“Is a woman named Emma there? Or Xandra, perhaps?”

“Xandra is here, why?”

“Listen to me, what I'm about to tell you can only be told to her and you must promise it won't leave this room..”


	3. Journey to Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla makes it back to the library with her group intact. She begins to help everyone settle in despite her lack of enthusiasm of setting up Laura, Laura's father, and LaF in her home. The students' of Silas are told the rules of the Island, along with a warning not to go near the Eastern coast of the Island.

“Alright everyone.” Xandra speaks up loud enough to wake everyone who's not yet up and get the rooms full attention, “We have a plan but we'll have to go back to our house. We need to leave as soon as possible.”

“How..?” Carmilla grumbles, “Why the house?”

“Mattie is going to open a door for us. We need to be there no later than in five hours, and we have no idea what the traffic is like.”

Carmilla meets John's eyes for a second before sitting up and rubbing her neck roughly to get a knot out, “Alright, then. Lets go back into the violence.”

* * *

Carmilla settles into her seat, buckling up and adjusting the mirror before looking back at Josephine, “'You buckled in, Josie?”

Josie looks down on the buckle and tugs on it, “Uh-huh.. Why isn't Daddy with us?”

“He's in the other car because he's feeling a little sick. You know how the sight of puke messes with Mommy Tessa's tummy.” Xandra fills in for Carmilla as she gets into the passenger seat.

“Are there gonna be more bad people?”

“Unfortunately so,” J.P. speaks up before offering the little girl a friendly smile, “But don't worry, your mothers will protect you.”

“I feel safe with kitty being here.”

Carmilla looks at her through the mirror and smiles softly before turning on the car and pulling out of the small parking lot. Before they even hit the highway she realizes that luck might be on her side. No one is heading towards the city.. but that doesn't mean that the roads are safe.

* * *

Carm waits for Katherine to pull up to the house before hitting the button to the garage and pulling in. Putting the car in park and taking out the key, she hands it back to Tessa and gets out. Grabbing her bag she glances towards the others and cuts through the silence in the garage, “I'm going to go get a few things from my room and let Mattie know we're here.”

“I'll go pack a few of our books and some more food away, since we're going through the door.”

“That is quite a good plan. We should protect whatever knowledge we can.” J.P. speaks up hopefully, looking towards her with an earnest smile on his face despite the mess they were in.

Carmilla nods and quickly leaves the garage before J.P. can follow her. Walking up to the refurbished attic she sighs heavily and drops her bags on the floor, sinking down onto her bed eagerly. Just a few minutes to relax before she summons up the strength to call her sister.

_She's so tired_..

“And here I thought you might be avoiding me.” Mattie sounds almost amused.

Carmilla fights an eye roll and rubs her forehead, “I feel like crap.”

“Are you at the house?”

“Yeah. Pretty sure we'll be ready to go in half an hour.”

“Good. The students will be ready soon, so you'll have an hour's head start once you get to the library.”

Carmilla hums slightly in acknowledgement before glancing to the clock, “Call me when it's time?”

“Of course. I'll see you then.”

Carmilla hums again, “You, too.” Hanging up, she stays in bed for another moment before getting up and walking over to her dresser to pull out a favorite book, tossing it onto the bed along with her vape kit.

Xandra knocks on the door, causing Carm to jump. Peering in, Xandra tilts her head, “Wanna smoke?”

“Depends, what do you have?”

Xandra smirks and walks into the room carrying a familiar wooden box, “I still have, like.. eight ounces of Banana OG.”

“Gods, you are so predictable.” Carmilla hides a small smile as she digs through her dresser before switching to Xandra's native tongue, “Bien sûr.”

* * *

J.P. looks up when he hears Carmilla and Xandra come down the stairs and into the basement, “Did you find what you were looking for, Miss Karnstein?”

“Uhh.. yeah.” Carmilla slings her bag over her shoulder, “I just got off the phone with Mattie, the door should be here any moment now.” Glancing back at Jonathon, she bites down on the inside of her lip. Tessa insisted on packing a bag for him but she knows now he doesn't plan on coming to the island, “How are you holding up?”

“I got a headache, but, uh..” John rakes his hand through his short hair, messing it up slightly, “I think it might just be nerves.”

“Anything else we should know about?” Setting her bag down, she presses her hand to his forehead.

He feels fine.. healthy, even.

“Stomach is in knots. That's it.”

“Wait here.”

“Mar, you can't be serious.” Xandra raises a brow as she looks up to her.

“I have restraints upstairs, we can cuff his hands together in case something happens and bring him with.” Carmilla shouts as she races her way up the stairs.

“I never thought I'd say this,” Tessa says as she walks over to him, hugging him tight, “But I'm glad we have a sadistic vampire on our side.”

…

Carmilla races upstairs to her steam trunk, quickly dialing 2-0-7 on her lock before opening it with shaking hands. Josephine deserves a father, and with Tessa..

She can't risk her losing her primary food and energy source. It could spell disaster for the school (and depending on whether or not the Zombie's cause an apocalyptic scourge on humanity, the entire human race). Grabbing familiar iron cuffs, she double checks that she has the keys to it before running back to the basement, sighing in relief at the sight of the door.

“Okay.. okay, I got them.” Cuffing his wrists in the front, she returns to grabbing her bag and hangs J.P. Jonathon's bag, “Take this.”

“Push the supplies through first!”

Xandra picks up Josephine as Katherine, Anya and her husband go through the door with the cooler and suitcase filled with supplies and rations. Carmilla grabs Josie's bags and waits to go last, sparing one last look at the house before walking through the door and shutting it behind her.

Eyes temporarily blinded from the influx of light, Carmilla moves her forearm to shield her eyes. Ears ringing, she curses and backs against the door when a pair of arms hug her tightly around the waist.

“-Are you okay?”

“J.P.! I was so worried about you!”

“ _Fangface_.--”

“-You must be part the Summers?”

_What the hell is going on._.?

Carmilla backs flush against the door, the ringing in her ears getting temporarily louder as her vision clears.

“Carm?” Laura pulls back, hands still on Carmilla's waist as she watches Carmilla blink blankly for a moment before she seems to actually recognize her.

“Yeah.. I'm fine. It's just whiplash.”

“Here..” Mattie is by her in seconds, bag of blood in hand.

“Thanks..” Carmilla murmurs quietly as she sink down into the nearest chair, tearing into it with her teeth and feasting on it greedily without a moments thought on showing restraint around the others.

“She'll be fine, she just needs blood.”

…

“It's good to see you, sis.” Mattie kneels down despite the fact that Carmilla is almost ready to get back into the fight and takes her hand, squeezing it gently, “You had me worried.”

Carmilla offers her a small smile, thumb running over the back of her hand in order to avoid them being too affectionate infront of the others, “You, too. Thanks for the blood.”

They can't appear codependent, after-all.

Mattie nods and stands, “Take a few more minutes, everyone.. then we need to send the first wave of people through the door.”

…

Carmilla looks at the group Mattie selected uneasily. Kirsch, Danny, Tessa (who has unwillingly said her goodbye's to her husband), all three children on campus (including Josie), the apparent leader of the alchemy nerds, LaF, J.P., Laura and apparently her father (she'd process that later), and a few other random science nerds that Mattie decided could be necessary to help LaF with studying the virus.

The plan is to get everyone settled and then she'd come back to the library and help Mattie with getting the rest of the students that were left.

Which would, realistically speaking, take just under forty-five minutes before she'd be back with Matska.

Carmilla turns her attention to Mattie, watching as she knocks against twenty-five different spots on the door, opening it up to a familiar scene of white sands, clear waters, and a familiar dock that's back-lit by the sunrise, “Alright, I guess this is it.”

Laura and LaFontaine offer her anxious agreements as she picks Josie up and walks through.

The light doesn't blind her this time and she feels close to one-hundred percent as she sets Josephine down, “Remember what I told you, babe?”

“Pretend you're just a friend of Mommy's.”

“Exactly.” Carmilla ruffles her hair and glances towards where the majority of the buildings are, already seeing Sasha walking towards them.

Xandra steps out of the door, quickly followed by the rest of the group before the door is shut and it disappears with less than a warning.

“Miss Karnstein, Belmonde told me what was going on. We've already got most of the houses and yurts set up, along with the labs.”

“Great.”

“Who are you?” Danny speaks up from her spot next to Kirsch near a tree.

“Mrs. McKearny. I'm in charge of overseeing the island for most of the year.” Sasha offers her a hand and a smile, “I believe introductions are in order?”

“Right.. Sasha, meet Danny Lawrence, member of the Summer Society--”

“-Oh! A Summer.. we'll get along just fine, then.”

Carm pauses for a moment, eyebrows raising just slightly as she spares a glance in both girls' directions, “--And Kirsch, who recently took leadership of the Zeta's.” Carmilla begins to take a few steps back as she talks, casually gesturing as she goes down the group, “LaFontaine, who is a bio major. They'll be in charge of studying the virus along with several other students.”

“They, Mrs. Karnstein?”

“Don't worry about it too much. I use they/them pronouns. I can explain it later.” LaF offers her a patient smile. They're used to this, sadly.

Sasha nods before turning her attention to the others as Carmilla continues, “The leader of the Alchemy club, Harrison Jr., Laura Hollis—my.. _friend_ —along with her father. You've already met Tessa, and this,” Carmilla smiles down at Josie, “Is Tessa's daughter, Josephine.”

“Hi!” Josie speaks up smiling from ear-to-ear.

“J.P. Armitage, my.. _brother_ ,” Carmilla stares Sasha down, trying to get across the point that it's not William before continuing, “and lastly, the other two children are Liam and Micheal Reeds.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you all.” Sasha offers them warmly before gesturing towards where the homes are, “This Island may be small but I can guarantee you it will be home soon enough.. it's very well hidden and protected from the outside world, so do know that you can rest easy.”

“What a relief..” Laura's father speaks up, running his hand over his head with a heavy sigh.

He looks decades older in that moment.

Sasha offers him a brighter smile, “We've started setting up for everyone as soon as we got word from Matska Belmonde over the radio. We have enough food on the Island but unfortunately dinner will be a little small since our cook didn't get very much time to prepare. I've coordinated with Belmonde and she's informed me of what you're to tell your later arrivals; it's imperative no one wastes anything, no one may try to go too far away from the island due to the coral reefs surrounding it, and the Eastern side of the Island is off-limits. This isn't going to be like Grapes of Wrath, this has been the same place the staff has lived in for most of our lives and we are inviting you and the rest of the students of Silas into our homes, so don't be idiots because I can guarantee that those who commit crimes can— _and very likely will_ —be 'kicked off' the Island.”

“A very reasonable request, Mrs. McKearny.” Laura's father.. again.

If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was trying to charm her...

Perhaps it could get the old bat to lighten up?

“Thank you.” Sasha turns to Carmilla once again, “Where would you like me to set up everyone?”

“Set the Summer's up in the blue house by the forest, the Zeta's on the house closest to the seaside, and the Alchemy club and bio geeks can take the grey house near the cliff-side. J.P. will be staying in my house, but do take him to William's old house so he can search through it for anything he'd like to take with him.”

“William's house?”

“The ass is dead, relax.”

“Very well.”

“Also, make sure no students go near mother's or Matska's homes.”

“Of course, Miss Karnstein. Miss Lawrence, Mr. Kirsch, Mr. Armitage, and Mr. Harrison? If you'd all follow me, I can give you a tour and get you settled in. Leave any supplies and books from the library on the beach for now, members of the staff will collect them and store them where they belong. Oh! And you students in the back, as well.” Sasha murmurs as she shepherds her group away from the beach, taking the bio students with her.

Carmilla sighs slowly, glancing back at LaFontaine the moment she realizes their eyes are boring into the back of her head.

“Well that was... weird. You don't plan on taking J.P. away from me, too, do you?”

Carmilla furrows her brows and shakes her head, “No?”

“Sorry, they've been on edge ever since Perry went missing.” Laura offers her an apologetic half-smile.

“I still don't see why I couldn't stay behind and look for her.”

“We'll figure everything out. For now you guys need to follow me.. Tessa, do you know your way around, still?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Take the children to one of the cabins closer to the mess hall.”

Tessa nods and scoops Josie up as Carmilla hands her the smaller bag in her arms, “Of course. I'll stop by your house with J later.”

Carm nods and waits for her to get out of earshot, “Okay, I really don't want to be stuck with a bunch of invalids who will inevitably trash my place which is why everyone here is being set up in my house.” Carmilla nods towards where everyone else has walked over to, “Come.”

Carmilla can hear J.P.'s excited voice from across the beach as he takes in what little of the Island he can see, “Oh, how exciting, this really is quite a lovely location. There's so much fauna that I've never been able to see in person before!”

* * *

“Hey..” Laura catches up to Carmilla, “Do I even get an explanation?”

Carmilla shrugs before walking up the rough staircase that's carved into the hillside, “I needed to go clear my head.. and it's not like you'd care.”

“Of course I care..”

Carmilla grunts slightly in response as she walks towards the cluster of homes that looks more like a small town's square.

“You just left.”

Carmilla shoulders her bag, avoiding Laura's gaze, “And you were asking me to choose between my sister who I've known since the day I was turned and the girl I thought might have loved me.” Carmilla decides to ignore Laura's dad in the background as he watches them closely while maintaining a discussion with LaFontaine. Laura quiets almost immediately, quickly choosing to lag behind her. Stopping near the wishing-well near the edge of the forest, Carmilla turns around to face all three of them, “Alright, behind you on your left is the mess hall.” She waits for them to all look towards it before continuing, “To your direct right is the bathrooms to the cabins, they have showers and other basic amenities. Behind you from there is where the general store is.. granted with all of the crap that's going on, it's more likely to be a trade-and-barter system soon.”

“So, Carmilla, what's on the East coast of the Island? Why so hush-hush?” LaF asks curiously, unable to help themselves'.

“Just don't go near there. It's where the staff lives.” It's a bullshit answer, but at least it will work for now. “Any more questions?”

“Where are we staying?” Laura's dad looks unenthusiastic.

Carmilla nods towards the path that's just past where the Summer Society's house is, “This way.”


	4. Two's Company

Carmilla sighs as she jumps down from her spot on a fallen tree and takes LaF's hand, helping them over before Laura and her Father, “I'll have that fixed on my way back.”

“How much farther? As much as I like backpacking into the forest, please tell me it's not literally in the middle of it.” Laura groans. She's spent too much time cooped up in the Dean's house lately and it's left her less than spry.

Carm’s face breaks into a small smile at Laura, “We've only been walking for five minutes, your highness. You'll survive.”

“ _No repressed squishy feelings here._ ” LaF remarks over Laura's expression as they brush the small pine bunch that's fallen onto their shoulder off.

“Hey, for the last time, my feelings aren't squishy!” Laura actually _pouts_ and for the first time in what feels like ages since chasing Mattie around mother's old apartment, Carmilla can't help the light laughter that flits through the air as she continues walking.

Walking down a little farther, she smiles at the sight of her clearing, finally coming upon the two-story yurt that's built into the beginning of a shallow hillside. As she shoulders her bag, she glances back at the others and gestures towards it, “Alright, we're here.”

“I have to admit.. this is not what I was expecting, Karnstein.” LaFontaine shoulders their bag as they walk up the steps with her, briefly considering greeting the grumpy old grey cat that’s lounging on the steps, they watch as Carmilla pulls out a key-chain, rifling through the keys before finding the right one and unlocking the front (and only) door.

Carmilla walks inside, taking off her leather jacket and leaving her bag on the floor as she meanders over to the fridge casually, checking it for blood and sighing in relief when she finds blood bags taking up half of the space in the refrigerator. She waits for the others to come in, pulling out a blood bag and pouring a third of it’s contents into a mug. When she turns around and takes a sip, LaF is busy exploring the rest of the immediate space on the first floor. Laura is lingering close to the kitchen island, looking around but not moving any farther away from Carmilla.. Her dad is standing close behind her.

“So..” Swirling the blood in her mug as she leans against the counter, she glances around the room before sighing slowly, “LaF’s standing by a lofted bed, you can pull it out for two of you.. the leather couch is pretty comfy, and the chair next to the flat screen is comfortable enough.” Carm pauses, taking a long drink of the blood and moaning slightly over the sudden relief in the back of her throat.

She hasn’t felt this dependent on blood since before her time in the coffin.

“Hey, Carm, what’s upstairs?” LaF looks out the window. From their spot they can almost see a view of the Eastern Coastline.. which is deserted.

“My room. Off-limits.”

“Right. Of course." Fighting not to shrink back when Carmilla gives them a look that could send blood hounds running in the opposite direction, LaF is saved when Laura looks over in her direction and catches sight of a plate on the table.

“Holy Hufflepuff, is that real fruit?!” Laura runs over to the coffee table, scooping up an apple eagerly.

“-Uh, yeah.. Oh, another thing, the housekeeper, Zoe, comes over at around.. eight a.m. every morning. She’ll probably bring over food for you guys.”

“You have a _house keeper_?” Laura slurs as she turns around, teeth half-bitten into the green apple she was moaning over milliseconds ago.

“… I just don’t want any morons breaking my stuff, god!” Carm sets the mug down, heading upstairs quickly.

Laura bites through the apple the rest of the way, watching Carm slip out of sight and not noticing LaF stepping up towards her.

“So.. is it me or are the only things in this house that Carm has updated in the past century the tv and the poster of Joan Jett?”

Laura nods in agreement as she sinks down on the couch, “I mean.. but the housekeeper makes so much sense in hindsight.”

“You are forgetting that for about... like, three centuries?” LaF waits for a nod from Laura, “Right, for about three centuries maids and footmen were practically a normal thing for her.”

Laura nods as her Dad comes over to the couch, taking an orange off of the table, “So, Dad..”

“I don’t know about this place, Laura..”

Carmilla lets out a quiet sigh as she turns away from the curtain. She shouldn’t be eavesdropping.

She also shouldn’t be standing so close to the curtains.

Stretching briefly to shake her intense desire to sleep off, Carmilla walks over to the hatch on the roof and opens it, pulling herself up onto the roof long enough to check the solar panels before carefully climbing back down, shutting the hatch and locking it. Going through her armoire she pulls out a change of clothes and tosses them onto her bed.

Humans, vampires, sirens, and werewolves all living in one island.

Fuck.

The mere idea of it makes her want to hide under the covers of her bed and sleep for a few weeks before she even considers leaving the yurt.

* * *

 

“A positive being of pure white light. Pure white light, and --”

Carm raises her brows as she walks into the familiar room of the Robespiere building, “I don’t think that’s gonna work, Perry.”

“Carmilla!” Perry rises from her spot sitting next to one of the glee club members and Elsie, along with a child that she can see in the corner, “Oh, thank god its you!”

Carmilla bites back a snarky comment as she looks through whats left of the raided interrogation room, “Have any of you been bitten?”

“No, but Perry and Elsie were scratched.”

“Oh. Great, well, John is just going to have the time of his life then, won’t he?” Carmilla can’t help the sarcasm as she picks up a dagger that had been thrown onto the floor when the Zetas and Summers stormed through before her arrival, “Get up and get ready to leave, we need to get out of here.”

“Where is everyone else?” Perry furrows her brows in confusion as she walks up to her.

"Off-campus."

* * *

 

“I swear to god, if I have to deal with another egg-headed college student I am going to lose my mind.” Xandra murmurs as she finds J.P., sitting down in the seat next to him before picking up a piece of bacon, “It’s like they’ve completely forgotten how to properly teach conversing with this generation.”

“Well, not everyone lives in their own little bubble of homosexuality.” Tessa tosses back casually as she takes a seat across from her, “In fact, most of the population here is probably straight.”

Xandra rolls her eyes, “I miss the days when the only people who cat-called you were only complete drunkards.”

“I miss the days when you didn’t drone on about the eighteenth century,” Tessa rolls her eyes, “Not all of us were around during the era of stuffy manners and confining corsets.”

“Actually quite a fair majority of us at the table were.” J.P. looks over towards where LaFontaine is still getting their food.

Mattie keeps her eyes on Carmilla, absentmindedly sipping on her glass of wine, “The hängerock.”

Carm lifts her head up, glancing at Mattie sleepily before making Devil horns with her fingers, “You win, Mats.”

Mattie hums slightly, throwing no complaint when Carmilla rests her head against her shoulder.

They’ve earned their rest.

“Alright..” LaF sits down, scooting a cup of dark blood over to Carmilla before almost digging into their burger without mercy, “Compliments of the chef.”

Carmilla opens one eye and sits up long enough to down the cup. Returning to her previous position against Mattie, she nearly melts into her spot, “How much do you want to bet that Perry and Elsie are going to drive John insane?”

“I still don’t see why she has to be kept around them, can’t we just bring her here and keep her under quarantine?” LaF looks up at Mattie as they suddenly put down their burger.

“Keep eating.” Carm grumbles, getting up from her spot, “I’m going to go home and sleep.”

Xandra looks up at Carm, abandoning her food and quickly following after, “Mar, wait!”

…

“Mar, come on. Slow down!” Xandra follows after her broody Carmilla, ignoring the stomping as Carmilla walks down a path, finally coming up to a tree and stopping, “You’re acting like a child, so what if they find out?”

“For the last fucking time!” Carm growls in annoyance as she reaches down and briefly struggles to lift the tree. Finally being able to raise it up and forcing it into the opposite direction, she turns around to face her, “It’s not about Josie!”

“Of course it is, you’re worried Jonathon is going to spill his guts like the pathetic over-sharing child that he is to this ‘Perry’ chick. It’s fine! You should be proud.” Xandra walks up to her, grabbing her arm the second before Carmilla turns to leave, “Marcilla, don’t you see? We created something that even modern-day science has yet to accomplish!”

Carmilla rolls her eyes and gets out of her grip, “Not this shit again, Xandra.”

“You should be proud of her!”

“I am,” Carmilla grits as she stalls, “I love her to death but the others can’t find out. You don’t know these students, Emma!”

“What do you mean?” Xandra laughs, “They’re children.”

Carmilla groans loudly, voice stupidly getting louder through her own anger, “And so is she! A living, mortal, _entirely-too-easy_ to kill four-year old! I can guarantee that nearly half of these students will be so hell-bent in their own ways that they’ll see her as an abomination and ruin her, too! This isn’t about upholding my fucking reputation; if they find out, they’ll kill her. This is between me, Jonathon and Tessa, just stay out of it, Em.”

Storming away before Xandra can try to convince her otherwise, Carmilla stomps out to the clearing, anger and annoyance quickly deflating into exhaustion.

Laura looks up at the sound leaves rustling, “Carm?” Stopping mid-yoga routine, she stands up from her place on the porch.

“Not until I’ve had at least six hours of sleep.” Carmilla groans as she nearly drags herself to the door of the house. Quick to head inside, she settles for grabbing the bag of blood she used earlier and gruffly punctures a hole into it before downing all of it’s contents. Dropping the blood bag down onto the counter, she grabs her bag off of the floor and quickly heads upstairs.

* * *

Carmilla rolls over onto her other side, glancing up at Laura sleepily, “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

Laura smiles at her and shrugs slightly, “That never stopped you?”

Carmilla sighs and pulls the covers up past her neck, “Fair point.”

“Hey..” Laura reaches out, pressing her hand to Carmilla’s forehead out of habit only to furrow her brows in confusion, “Are you okay? You’re burning up..”

“I caught the vampire equivalent of a cold.” Carmilla lies as she hugs a nearby pillow, “What are you doing up here?”

“I was worried about you. You’ve been sleeping for the past 36 hours straight.” Laura watches her, knowing full well that Carmilla won’t look at her easily with the concern written across her face, “I thought all vampire were immune to our mortal ailments?”

The small, lopsided smile is the only indication that she heard her for a short while, “...I think I’ve just been pushing myself too hard lately.”

“You? Our nigh unkillable vampire?” Laura teases for another moment before laying down next to her, “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?”

Carmilla opens one-eye, “I mean I’m still theoretically alive.. so..”

“Well.. do you wanna talk about it?”

“No.” Carmilla closes her eyes again, “I just want to sleep.”

Laura huffs and pouts before remembering the bag on the table. Maneuvering past the canopy covering Carmilla’s bed, she grabs the blood bag and returns to her, “Will you at least let me take your temp after you drink some A neg?”

Carmilla stays still for a minute, choosing to sit up just as Laura pulls away with thoughts of defeat, “Fine..”

Laura smiles and hands the bag over to her, “I was hoping so.”

 


End file.
